Just When
by Arkytal
Summary: Kagami is dying, but is found by a trio of spirits that, for some reason, have an interest in her. AU, WWII if Operation Unthinkable happened, and WWII doesn't end on the Pacific Front for a long time.
1. Pinned

Just When  
Chapter 1: Pinned

It hurts to beathe. It hurts to not breathe more, however, so I'll continue breathing, at least until I bleed out. My legs are pinned underneath a transport truck I was riding in with a ragtag squad I met up with. We were ambushed by a British patrol, which included a light tank. The first shot from it took out the whole squad and flipped the truck, leaving me unable to move, and losing blood fast.

The tank had proceeded to drive away, as it appeared nothing more was to be done.

Okay, now it really hurts. I must have been here for hours, the sun is starting to set, and the sound of cicadas grows in intensity. It's odd, really. There's a Shinto gate that I can see the corner of if I crane my neck all the way to the left, looking past the ruined front end of the truck. It might be a trick of the eyes, but it looks blurry. Like I'm looking through a rifle scope that wasn't properly cleaned, it's hazy, but everything else seems fine.

I really wish I could at least die with a shout and a yell, and not a whimper. A chance to fight the fate given to me. But that's preposterous. There's no one around for kilometers, and even the slowly dimming sound of the British tank had faded into silence.

I sighed, looking down at my legs, wincing at how nasty they looked from below the rags that were once a proud uniform. The left leg was pinned in a way that the ankle was crushed underneath the fuel tank. The left had simply been snapped at the ankle, so despite not being pinned, was useless and just as immovable. Both legs had gone numb shortly after I woke up in this position, which I take as a blessing and a curse. A blessing so I don't have my last seconds wrought with pain, but a curse, as it tells me my time is limited.

At least I'll be able to say hello to my sisters now. War is a terrible thing, to take the lives of those who had done nothing but watch...but I cannot say the same for myself. Three years in an unwindable war with two of the world's most powerful nations has taught me to shoot first and identify bodies later. I've killed a few civilians here and there, which I guess makes me just as bad as what I'm fighting.

My eyelids are getting really heavy. I might never wake up if I fall asleep. Though, at this point, I would almost welcome the peace among this living hell. Almost. I'm not ready to die yet.

I made some friends during the years of fighting, only to see them cut down by the advancing sword of 'democracy' and 'freedom'. Ken was killed in his sleep by a young boy who had been paid in food by the British. Alexiev was held at gun point while he was relieved of his worldly belongings, then told to run for the treeline. He ran, but no one can outpace a bullet. I killed an entire enemy camp that day.

I don't need your pity, if that's what you think. I just can't bear the thought of dying without at least acknowledging the people who were most important to me, because I might be the only one to do so.

I struggled to get on my elbows, looking around as the shadows lengthened and the sky grew dark. It happened quickly, not the natural cycling of day to night. The gate had become a square of nothingness, dispelling blurry figured that moved towards me, making no sounds, even as they stepped on branches and rocks.

I could say nothing as the three figures approached me, coming to a position where one was at 9 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 3 o'clock, if I held my head straight. I did so, looking straight up at them.

Pure swirling blackness covered them, but one stooped down to my level, making me realize they were very tall, perhaps 3 meters in height.

A mixture of whispers and chirps flooded my ears, which consolidated into a single melodious voice, sing-song and mocking at the same time.

"It ap-pears that you are in a bit of a pre-di-cam-ent!" The voice made random stops mid-sentence, and through my heavy eyelids, the figure was bobbing its head back and forth. It turned its empty face towards the other two.

"From what Kaiser has gath-ered, the mort-al will be of much ente-rtain-ment to Kaiser, Mist-ress, and Zau-ber!"

The other figures moved closer to the one that I assumed was talking, and in my state at the edge of consciousness, I could still hear them fine, but I was too exhausted to ponder what was happening, writing it off as a hallucination.

"Are you sssure Kaissser? Ssshe doesssn't look like the type to have unique ssstoriesss to relay...though, Missstresss hasss been wrong before. Your thoughtsss Zauber? "

The third figure practically shoved his head next to mine, but I was too tired to react, just meekly waving a hand at it.

"What's this? It can see us? What if it can hear us? Misstress, Kaiser, could this one be the one? The one with the Answers to the Questions? It might? Can we find out? We should, shouldn't we? We should."

Backing away from me, I noticed only one of the figures had arms, which was waving at me. I adjusted my own arm to wave in the direction of it, causing it to jump back.

"Thisss is interesssting, it can sssee usss, and doesssn't appear to be alarmed by it. I sssay we initiate the sssspecial protocol for sssspecial cassses."

And with that, I closed my eyes, and felt a distinct feeling of numbness begin to travel up from my legs, into my torso, and through my arms and finally to my head. It was simultaneously hot and cold, and it blocked my ability to breathe. My eyes remained open, and I could see the world around me drain of color, even in the darkness of the unatural night. The pain was fading, and soon enough, the world did too, though I had not closed my eyes. The feeling of my back being supported by the ground of my hands slowly diminished into nothingness as well, but throughout it all, I did not feel a single ounce of fear.

Somehow, I know it's not the end.

**A/N: Well, that worked out better than expected. Madness, no characters have been named yet! This is an AU, which uses two main changes. Well, one main change, and one significant enough to allow all of this to happen.**

**:Operation Unthinkable happens in World War II, and the Russians pull an about face in retaliation and join Japan to help against the Allied forces, who they belive are in the wrong (they totally are).**

:Japan had allowed women to enlist and be drafted into military service.

**Shit gets real in the next chapter, or rather, it should. Might be more plot development that won't matter for 20 chapters afterward, or might not. Who knows?  
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and leave a review!**


	2. Tear Drops in Gas Cans

Just When

Chapter 2: Teardrops in Gas Cans

**A/N: I apologize for halting this for a while, I was out of it. A review would be awesome, I would appreciate it a whole bunch if you did. Reviews make the world go 'round! Or square. Depends how long you paid attention to math class. **

**On another note, what are the chances of meeting someone in real life that not only reads as much as you (which is a lot), but also has actually READ some of what you wrote? PRETTY damn small, I imagine, and yet exactly that happened last week! So hello Mark, my driver's ed partner in crime! In his words, concerning what I wrote:**

**Mark: No, I think the worst thing I saw was this one recently about Lucky Star and WWII not ending or something.**

Me:...That's also my fault.

Mark: O.o

**On with the story!**

Well, I woke up. Which is weird. Aren't I dead or some shit? Waiiiiit. Those youkai. Riiiiight.

Everything is white. And I mean everything. Well, I'm more of a pasty white, and...wait. Last time I checked, my legs were pretty toasty under that lorry. Now they're fine. And not at awkward angles. My first, last, and only guess is now magic. That, or I'm dead. I mean, it's not every day that you see weird shit right before you black out. Or rather, stuff that's THAT weird.

Yeah. I wonder where those things are. I mean, I remember that there were three shadow things, but I only remember hearing two names, Kaiser and Zauber. They're both German words, so maybe these youkai are dead German soldiers reincarnated or something?

If really they saved me from death, I'm totally fine with that. I still needed to beat the uniforms off of those Yanks for attacking Japan.

Well, speak of the devil, those shadows showed up. If 'stepping out of black squares of nothing' counts as showing up. A tad too dramatic if you ask me.

The largest one, Kaiser, is bowing to me, so I got up and replied in kind, before sitting back on what I realized was a Western style bed.

"Kaiser hopes that Miss Hiiragi is not frightened by the turn of events. This space you are in now will be where you will live while you still prove to be useful to Kaiser, Mistress, and Zauber. Upon completion of your tasks, we will insert you back into your world, fully cured of any physical ailments you had, and guarantee your health for several years after that. If you do not have any questions Miss Hiiragi, we can begin immediately."

I held up my hand, at which point he nodded and I began to speak.

"I do have a couple of questions. The first one being, 'What am I doing?'. I kind of missed that the first time around."

The youkai next to Kaiser, the one with a lisp, flourished it's hands, before saying in its lithhhhpy voice, "Misss Hiiragi, the tassk for you iss quite ssimple. We will assk you questions about the world you live in. We have a rather limited sscope of movement around our shrine gate, and have sseen very little happenings around here within the passt thoussand yearss or sso. You happened to be injured right in the middle of our field of influence, so we were able to take you into our sspiritual rift where we reside, and heal your physsical form. All we assk iss that you tell uss about the interessting thingss that have happened to you throughout your life. We do not mind if your ressponsses to our questions veer sslightly off-basse. Iss that enough of an explanation for you?"

I frowned slightly, and nodded. She actually answered all of my questions at once, the others being how I wasn't dead, and where exactly I was. A spiritual rift. That's pretty cool actually. That's second on my list of cool places I've been to, right behind Miyuki's house. Oh my god that place is the most enormous place I've ever been in. Well, until...actually, never mind. Still top on my list.

The last youkai, Zauber, stepped back a few meters, and a large ornate desk appeared in front of him, facing me. He offered me a seat at it, which I took, and the other youkai turned to face me. I saw it happen in my peripheral vision, and they were at the 9, 12, and 3 positions, relative to me anyways. Kaiser spoke again.

"Well, now that Miss Hiiragi is acquainted to the situation, Mistress will start the proceedings. We will stop whenever you feel fatigued Miss Hiiragi, all you need to do is make a request."

I stopped dead for a split second.

"Wait, how do you know my name? I don't remember giving it to any of you...sorry if it's out of place to ask."

The one to the right, who looked rather portly, gave out a hearty laugh.

"Was that a serious question? Do tell, where is the uniform you were wearing? The rank of Lieutenant, and name of Hiiragi Kagami was still legible despite the...extensive damage. The white gown you are wearing only exists in this rift, but your uniform has been restored as well for your inevitable return trip. Regardless of the state you leave in…."

I took that at face value. It made sense...kind of. I nodded along and finally said, "Alright, what's the first question?".

Mistress replied to this almost immediately.

"Describe the chain of events that led you to join the armed forces. Use as much or as little detail as you want."

I sighed, thought for a few minutes, mulled it over in my head for a while longer, and then began in an unsteady voice that slowly grew more confident, so that by the time I had been talking for a few minutes, I was laying down details like it was nothing.

"Well, it all really started around the beginning of my junior year if high school. It was 1944, and World War II was in full swing. War was almost always on our minds, and the government sent out an announcement that healthy young people of both genders were wanted for the draft, and that anyone over the age of 16 would be allowed entry. It was further stated that those that missed out on schooling due to joining the armed forces would be allowed to resume schooling once they were finished with their time in the service of our nation.

My best friend Konata Izumi signed up almost immediately, because she was always a thrill seeker, and was eager to fight for Japan. Well, about a week after that, another friend of mine, Misao Kasukabe, also signed up for the draft. As per the criteria of the draft announcements, we needed to form 8-person groups in order to be accepted into the army, at which point we would be Volunteer squads under the Imperial Army. The Volunteer prefix made us different in name only. We were still treated identically to any other group of new-blood soldiers.

Seeing as opportunities outside of the armed forces were few and far in-between, my twin sister Tsukasa was the next to join up. After that, Misao's best friend Ayano Minegishi signed onto the draft group. I joined at everyone else's urging, as I didn't see much economic gain from staying out of a job I was sure to keep. Miyuki's neighbor Minami Iwasaki became the 7th member of our draft group, which has been titled the "Lucky Stars" by Tsukasa and Konata. The last initial member was Konata's eccentric friend Hiyori Tamura. I had always thought she was a bit off, but that didn't really matter. We had 8 people, and in early March of 1944, we had our bags packed full of the necessary supplies, and reported to the Okinawa Army Base to begin basic training.

Due to the fact that we were the first group to come forth, we were given the best of everything. We all got our own bunks at the base. Miyuki got proper medic training, and the rest of us were given a full course in shooting and how to stay conditioned during our tours of duty. By the end of the month, we were all ready for the battlefield, with some of us branching out to fill specific roles.

Misao received training in sabotage and explosives, which would allow for the squad to fulfill light anti-armor roles. This only occurred because she had been caught mixing chemicals in a gas can. Upon being questioned, she revealed the chemical mix was a high explosive, and convinced them to allow her to test it. After watching it turn a tree into a pile of splinters with just a teardrop of her magical mix, they told her never to do that again, and gave her proper training on how to handle explosives.

Miyuki only received combat training for 4 days, instead being trained primarily to fulfill the role as a medic. She learned how to amputate if necessary, and how to remove a bullet from just about anywhere on the body. Due to the extra space allocated from a lack of ammo pockets, and to be able to maintain an active presence in the field, Miyuki's uniform had additional armor sewn into it. It was tested against a rifle round 1km away, and proved very effective up to 240m, at which point the plate began to buckle and crack. It was also designed to be replaced easily.

Konata was recommended for and received commando training. She was small and highly athletic, and issued a German MP-44, a compact machine gun, as opposed to the other's Arisaka rifles. The Imperial Army received the rights from Germany to produce German weaponry when they joined the Axis powers alliance. The rifle was capable of fully-automatic fire, and was lighter than most machine guns by far. It was also extremely reliable, as it was designed to fire over 500,000 rounds before jamming. If I recall correctly, the official term for the MP-44 was an "assault rifle", which just meant a rifle that was fully automatic and was designed to be accurate at short to medium ranges.

I was given the role of support gunner, which meant I would use a light machine-gun to put down suppressive fire on enemy lines. I was issued a Type 99 LMG, which I found to be VERY accurate, though the iron sight was quite limited in view, as the magazine was top-loaded and blocked the left side of your vision. This proved to be a minor qualm, as the "spray and pray" tactic would most likely be employed if I was to be firing at a large amount of enemy forces at once.

Everyone else was given standard training with a bolt-action Arisaka rifle that utilized a fixed bayonet. My sister was lauded for her accuracy on the shooting range though, and was given a sniper scope to use with her rifle.

We were on station at the Okinawa Army Base for the better part of a month. After that, we were called into active duty on the front lines, starting in May 1944, in mainland China. We were going to be attacking a fortified position in the Hunan province as part of Operation Ichi-Go. It was at the top of a mountain, surrounded by dense forest. The only way we made it out of that place alive was the fact that that position was the only inhabited ground within 10 kilometers. Our squad was paired with two others to attack from the south side of the mountain, all of us consisting of Ryoo High students, staff, and a few people from around the Saitama area."  
**  
****A/N: Yeah, this follows the Pacific Theater pretty accurately until a certain point, other than my explanation for the German weaponry. This doesn't even really change much. A review would make me a very happy panda. And you wouldn't want to make me a sad panda, would you?****  
**

**Bye-nii~**


	3. So much for FORTified: Part I

Just When

Chapter 3: So much for FORTified: Part I

Roses are red  
Violets are blue  
This shit doesn't make sense  
Can I borrow your flamethrower?"

-Dying words of a US Marine

Misao Kasukabe: Explosives  
Miyuki Takara: Medical Support  
Konata Izumi: Close Quarters Combat  
Kagami Hiiragi: Support Gunner/Commander  
Tsukasa Hiiragi: Marksman  
Ayano Minegishi: Rifleman  
Minami Iwasaki: Rifleman  
Hiyori Tamura: Rifleman/CQC

"We were flown over mainland China under the cover of night on May 3 1944. We were airdropped into a forest near a fortified position in the Hunan province. We were going to assault it on May 7, as the Chinese had a massive fortress built into the side of a mountain. This mountain gave them a vantage point to see several clicks in every direction. The main offensive was to engage the enemy on the 10th, giving us 72 hours to prepare, and 72 hours to finish the job.

The squad was placed under my command, which didn't really amount to much for this battle. Minegishi was given a range finder and a radio and was to call in air strikes. We were given the secondary objective of capturing the howitzers which were defending the fortress from concealed gun ports. This was in addition of the rather obvious objective of taking the fort and 'eliminating' any hostile forces inside, which was just a euphemism for 'kill all those Chinamen'.

Despite having a crash course in combat, the Hunan airdrop was our first. Into a forest, no less. The only one to hit a tree on the way down was Iwasaki, which resulted in a cut on her left arm. She shrugged it off quickly though. Takara's parachute got stuck in a tree, but Izumi climbed up and cut her loose, while Tamura and Minegishi caught her. It was less than a 2 meter fall, so she wasn't injured.

After getting some rest, we got up at 09:00 hours together to reach our rendezvous point with the other squads that were attacking the south face of the fortress. I remember this very clearly.

(Flashback)

"Alright guys, we have to get moving if we want to meet up with the rest of the team."

I hefted my Type 99 up as I led the squad into the thick vegetation separating us and the rendezvous point.

"Shouldn't we be slightly quieter than this?"

Tamura had a point. Our landing was less than graceful, and we had been talking normally after we had caught some shut-eye. Thankfully no one had been around to shoot us, but then again, we were the farthest away from civilization.

"Alright, in that case, I want Takara and Izumi to take point, Kusakabe and I will bring up the rear, and no talking unless it's an emergency. There shouldn't be any Chinese forces around here, but if it walks on two feet, shoot first just in case. I'd rather have a couple of dead monkeys on my hands than a dead soldier."

I gave out orders, and with that, we began our hour-long trek through the forest.

We were halfway to the clearing when the complaints started.

"Can I blow something up?"  
That was Kusakabe.

"Can it Kusakabe, you'll get to smash some Chinaman gear before this is all said and done."

"Hai-hai Hiiragi!"

I did nothing but pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. Some people are appeased easier than others. Thankfully I had some easy ones to deal with.

After skirting a large briar patch, the next complaint arose.

"My feet hurt, are we there yet?"  
That was my sister. I ignored it for the sake of sanity.

And finally, when I took point to analyze the situation at the rendezvous.

"Where'd the party go?"  
That was Konata.

I couldn't even argue with that one. Despite the fact that we were supposed to be late to the 'party', the place was empty. There was a small pile of satchels in the middle, and without entering the clearing, I used binoculars to identify them as standard issue Imperial Army bags given to Volunteer squads, like ourselves. Without turning to the rest of the squad, which was behind various trees, watching and listening for any threats, I said aloud, "It could be a trap."

To my utter horror, I heard several cries from behind me, along with a laugh and a voice saying quietly, "It is.".

I whipped around, seeing rifle barrels poking up from the ground, and several improvised-leaf-cloak-wearing figures arise from the ground we had been standing on, all training rifles on us.

I ordered my squad to stand down, but Konata surprised everyone by hugging her captor tightly.

"Patty-chan!"

A giggle came from the "enemy", who threw her hood back, revealing the girl who had moved to Japan from America when she was barely old enough to walk, Patricia Martin.

With that, I figured that this was Squad 2, and sighed.

The other leafed figures sort of shrugged and rid themselves of their attire, revealing a set of semi-familiar faces.

"S-S-Sensei!"

Konata stuttered out at the appearance of Squad 2's leader, none other than the History teacher at Ryoo High, Nanako Kuroi. She laughed as we wall went back out to the clearing, the others setting up a briefing tent.

"We were given the order to hide to prevent an enemy getting the jump on us, but you practically stepped on me Izumi. Any closer and I would've tripped you. Though, I have to wonder where squad two is."

I perked up at this.

"You mean you're not squad two?"

"Hell no, 3rd Volunteer Rifleman Squad 'Furball', at your service. Our call sign can be accredited to the medic, some first year named Kobayakowa. She was shipped over to Squad Thirteen though, that girl is NOT combat ready material. Anyways, it turns out that so many applicants from Ryoo High came in, that the 3 squad team here is almost purely Ryoo High students and staff."

I nodded, looking around the clearing for any sign of squad two. I took in some of the familiar faces, seeing the (former, I must remind myself) student council rep Izumi Wakase assisting in setting up the tent, as well as Patricia Martin, who was handing satchels to a male student who was in my class to distribute. My eyes fell on Minegishi, who was carrying the field radio.

I mentally hit myself in the face, before addressing Minegishi.

"Minegishi, you have the frequencies for the other squads, correct? If you would, can you please contact squad two on the short-range and request an ETA for their arrival."

She reported back to me less than a minute later, with an odd answer.

"Er, Sgt. Hiiragi...they claim they arrived an hour ago."

I didn't respond right away, focusing on a glint of metal I had seen in one of the trees around the clearing.

The high noon sun had shone off of a gun barrel hanging in the tree.

Almost 10 meters above us, the mysterious, missing squad two sat, waving at me, also wearing leaf cloaks, and in a few cases, just hidden among the leaves. I heard more than a few snickers of laughter as the trees themselves seemed to begin to move as they began their descent.

I watched as they each climbed down the trees, despite being laden with equipment. There was only two men across the 3 squads. This could be due to the fact that most of the able men had been recruited in the past year, and that only those who were outside of the normal understandings of "able" had been missed by the drafts.

"Hey, why weren't we issued leaf cloaks?" Kusakabe whined.

"I have one, I didn't know what it was for though." Tsukasa pulled one out of her backpack, while everyone else sweatdropped. I just kind of chuckled, thankful that these mishaps were happening now, and not when a Chinaman was trying to get a good look at what our brains looks like plastered all over the nearest flat surface.

Minoru Shiraishi was supposed to be in command of 2nd Volunteer Squad 'Panzer', but was constantly bullied by their medic, the only non-Ryoo soldier in the group, one amazingly bipolar Akira Kogami.

"This is your big break you apathetic lump! If you mess this up, I'll cut your goods off and sell 'em at the nearest fish market!"

"I-I-I'll try my best Akira-sama!"

This only served to enrage her...somehow. I'm not entirely certain of the short one's sanity.

-WHAM-

"Try? Why I oughta-"

At this point Tamura pulled the squabbling soldiers apart and threw them a good 3 meters apart, Western superhero style. She proceeded to start screaming at everyone with her nose bleeding profusely and tears in her eye, whether of joy or anger, I don't know.

"For the love of all that is yandere, pull your shit together! We have a job to do, so quit your childish antics, get up, and do what we came to do! Kick some Chinaman ass, take names, chew gum, or something!"

I just watched this from the edge of the impromptu camp, but upon completion of her little speech, began a slow clap as I walked up to Tamura.

"That's exactly the kind of dedication we need in for Ichi-Go to succeed. Tamura, go take some down time. Shiraishi, Kogami, go form up with your squad and report to Corporal Izumi for further orders."

A chorus of "Yes, ma'am!" followed, and I watched as Konata giving them a reprimand for disrupting an operation, before attending to the matters at hand.

Turning to Kuroi and her squad, I shrugged, they shrugged, and we all headed into the briefing tent.

(Flashback end)

"Sso you mean to tell me your ssquad wass the lasst to arrive at your point, but wassn't isssued the order to hide?" Mistress butted in.

I sighed deeply.

"Yes, though that was more of an issue with our squad consisting of several different combat roles. Panzer and Furball are primarily soft target interdiction from medium to long range. Lucky Stars is a general support squad, with long range, short range, anti-armor, and medical roles. Please don't interrupt me again…..though I know I won't be able to enforce that request…..-sigh-"

(Flashback)

The briefing was an interesting affair. Due to me being the leader of the operation, it was my job to work out a strategy for assaulting the southern face of the mountain. Which is harder than it sounds, more so due to the people I was doing it with, not the actual plan itself.

I had pinned the maps of the area to the wall and circled our location with red, and the mountain with black. They were topographic maps, and incline gradient was extremely steep, almost twenty degrees. The mountain rose almost 1km above the surrounding forest, leaving quite an arduous trek ahead of us, even if we weren't being shot at.

Our plan was almost idiot-proof. We were going to approach the mountain tonight, hide in the forest until ready to strike, give the coordinates for an airstrike, and then mop up any remaining resistance while they were still shell shocked. Lucky Stars would take point, due to Minegishi having the radio and training to call in coordinates. Panzer and Furball would set up flanking positions on the walls of the fort, where their longer range roles would better serve the purpose of the operation.

Of course, this was explained while yelling over the chatter of everyone in the room. Everyone knew each other fairly well, which was terrible for planning to kill people in a strategic fashion.

I solved this problem quickly though. I pulled out my Nambu and fired a round into the ground. The gunshot instilled silence into everyone after the first shouts of fear and surprise, and in Tamura's case, a wild laugh. I wasn't actually angry, but acting this way does get results, so I'm okay with it. Though it gave me more reason to believe that Hiyori is crazy…..I'll deal with that when there's a need to do so.

"I'm not going to say this twice. Panzer and Furball will provide long range support while Lucky Stars goes through the middle. Not a single round will be fired until the enemy is almost upon us. Friendly fire is unacceptable. Now, any questions?"

Silence. Perfect.

"Alright, head out and make sure all of you are fighting fit. At 19:00 hours, we will begin our march to the edge of the forest. Establish a camp 30 meters from the tree line. 2nd and 3rd squad up front, you're traveling light, keep watch. Dismissed!"

Not everyone left immediately. Tsukasa and Konata were still standing in the back, glancing at me every few seconds. Finally, they walked up to me as I took stock of things, mostly supplies and reports on the possibility of enemy reinforcements.

"Sis, why are you being so, I don't know…..mean?"

I just sighed. Konata just kind of laughed. I grimaced, knowing full well that Konata saw war as a game. A very deadly game, yes, but still just a game. I didn't think along those lines. No, not at all.

"This is war…I'm not trying to be mean, but we're doing some inhumane stuff, there's no denying it. Not to mention that tonight, not everyone here is going to make it off that mountain in one piece. Even in the most ideal scenario, there's still going to be the possibility that something messes up. Some elements that haven't been accounted for. My job is to make sure we pull through while losing as few soldiers as possible. That's made so much harder by the fact that only one person on this team has even graduated high school! You get me?"

Tsukasa just solemnly nodded, while Konata nodded more vigorously, and performed a pretend "one-two-punch" with closed fists.

"Yeah, we'll show those Chinamen who they're messing with! Those damn Brits won't be able to do nothing once we're here!"

I sweatdropped to such a large magnitude that the ground shook.

"H-how did you know what the underlying motive of this operation was?"

Konata just shrugged, pointing off into a random direction.

"I listened in on some of the brass talking when I was finishing up on an indoor live-fire training course I had."

Sweatdrop. So much sweat was in that drop that I need something to drink now. I think I might have dehydrated myself.

"O-okay…..not that any of that matters for us at the present time. C'mon, let's go get some rest, and I need to get something to drink."

(Timeskip, nothing important occurs here, other than time passing from 12:00 to 19:00, and Kuroi playing cards with Akira)

As the sun begins to drop and the shadows lengthen, we began to pack up our hastily constructed camp. Squads Two and Three headed out first, leaving us in the eerie silence of the woods to gather our things and follow in their trailblazing.

I had received an additional supply from each of the other squads, as one person would not be able to carry the sufficient amount of ammunition that I would be required to expend in he upcoming battle, or at least not carry it too far. The trek to the treeline would be harrowing for myself, but I was able to convince Tamura to take some of it, so I wouldn't injure myself carrying all of it.

Despite our best efforts to come in undetected, we had to assume the Chinamen would know we were coming, and therefore be watching or us.

As I finally managed to get everything together, the sun finally dropped below the horizon, leaving us in a weird pseudo-twilight in the clearing.

"Let's move people! Miyuki, stay in front, Tamura, you stay at the rear with me. Everyone else, just be on your toes. No, not literally Tsukasa."

The forest was much harder to navigate when it was growing darker by the minute. We could just barely hear the soft crunch of leaves underfoot from the squads ahead of us, and certainly couldn't see them. We heard the soft chatter of the forest wildlife overhead, watching us as we went along. It took only about 20 minutes to catch up with the other squads at the treeline.

We all peered up the side of the mountain, though it was really more of a steep hill. The fort at the top was dimly illuminated, creating a halo effect at the top of the mountain. Not a single person was in sight on the outer edges of the fort, but Tsukasa used the scope of her rifle to get a better look, and identified guard towers all along the perimeter with two people in each one.

I moved to the front of the group, turning towards everyone else, adjusting my helmet. Seriously, this thing likes to slide around.

"Alright people, here's what we're going to do. Ayano, start figuring out coordinates, and at 20:00 hours, radio it in and watch the fireworks. The rest of us will begin to make our way up the hill once she calls in the strike. We won't make it more than 200 meters before the nearest bombers will make their pass, softening up the Chinaman good. We'll swarm the fort, with Panzer and Furball taking out any guards that aren't down, and taking their positions to provide cover fire for Lucky Stars to rush the interior of the fort. Once the top level has been secured, we will locate the howitzers and either plant charges and eliminate them, or change their headings to hit any reinforcements the Chinaman tries to call in, if any.

That's all the tactical planning we've got. As soon as the airstrike hits, all the other teams will begin to make their way to the fort from the surrounding forest. Beware of friendly fire once we start taking the fort. May fortune smile upon us today, and when in doubt, look for your Lucky Star."

Everyone agreed with it, and within minutes, Ayano had the stream of coordinates done out to radio in. It was 19:45, so I gave everyone 15 minutes of down time.

"Everyone, we've got 15 minutes until the operation officially goes down. If you want, cry to your mother, write some touching poetry and hide it in your breast pocket, count how many bullets you've got, stop and smell the flowers, I don't care, just be ready to kick some ass."

I got a small chuckle from the squads at that, but I was serious.

At 20:00, Ayano radioed in the coordinates for the strike.

"We need some bunker-busters at twenty-six eleven 32 north, one hundred thirteen sixty three twenty two east. 30 seconds? Roger that."

AS one, our team surged forward out of the treeline, only slightly less quiet than an angry bear. That was little to worry about though, as the drone of airplane engines was soon heard, and in the night, the running lights of four Ki-67 could be seen coming in from the east. As we started making our way up the side of the hill, the chatter of machine guns was heard, then the clank of the bay doors opening.

Those bombs must have been big, because the first one blew a huge chunk our of the wall and sent it down the mountain, and the rest of them turned the whole place into a pile of rubble, and we had to shoot a guy who was flung out of the debris and towards us. Well, we would've shot it, but it was pretty obvious he was dead. In th dark, we could see the gleam of the inside of his body cavity. I heard retching somewhere behind me, but it didn't really affect me too much.

We continued on, hearing the planes fade off into the distance, and the occasional muffled voice floating down the mountain.

As we neared the crest of the hill, we heard gunshots from inside the fort. Panzer and Furball went ahead of us, and spread out to the walls. Giving us the go-ahead, we got up the hill and darted inside the wall of the fort, or rather what was left of it.

Only to be greeted by a gruesome scene.

Bodies were littered all around, most of them looking like they were hit by the bombs. Some had been spared, and were the victim of bullet wounds, and on the other side, a number of enemy soldiers were firing down the hill at our forces. I signaled for the squad to wait, while I slowly made my way across the open section of the fort, careful so as to not disturb someone's final resting place. I made my way to the left side of the fort, where a wall had partially collapsed, and was perpendicular to where the Chinamen were hiding behind sandbags, firing out of gun ports.

I set up my Type 99 on the top of the wall with the bipod deployed, and aimed at the straight line of soldiers firing at my fellow soldiers.

I almost felt sorry for them. But not quite.

I held down the trigger and let loose a hail of lead into these guys, who had no idea what hit them. Three in one, four in another, all of them got a good taste of lead. As soon as I started firing, everyone from my team started as well, and when I crouched down to retrieve another magazine, as I quickly expended my own, the amount of gunfire was almost nonexistent.

So I had to gasp when I felt a knife go through my uniform, straight into my side. Oh, that hurts. It hurts so much.

I dropped to the ground in such a way that I could see my assailant, a ragged man who was missing an arm, a manic hatred in his eyes. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I could see he was dying.

His rant was ended by a gunshot to the face, right in the nose. I heard footsteps running over to me as I teetered on the edge of consciousness.

It didn't help that I felt the knife be removed in a rough pull. That hurt too.

Then someone, I'm guessing Miyuki, poured something on my wound, and it hurt a whole lot more.

I gave up trying to stay conscious, just hoping I'd wake up again.

Of course, it happened a whole lot sooner than I expected.

**A/N: Yay, Kagami got stabbed! Wait, that's a bad thing. Oh well, I wanted to have the whole thing go off without a hitch, but then I was like "but that's no fun!". At least some stuff got blown up, even though it wasn't Misao that did it. That's next chap-er, I mean….yeah.**

**Drop a review if you want, and remember, soda cans are NOT a sturdy building material.**

**Bye-nii~**


	4. So much for FORTified: Part II

7/10/2012  
Just When

Chapter 4: So much for FORTified: Part II

**A/N: Hello all! Hope you enjoy the chapter! I'm not entirely sure where this is going after the end of this chapter….might have to start diverging from the WWII storyline. :3 Now, on with the plot!**

"Sir, there's a catch."  
"What catch is that Corporal?"  
"Catch 22, sir."  
-Either Mew and Mewtwo, or those guys from Catch 22. It was a pretty hazy night.

NOT DISTRACTING SUPER DUPER FANTASTIC LINE BREAK

"Move her inside!"

The ground shook, but I couldn't see why…..

I felt myself being dragged over to debris-strewn ground, wondering where I was.

Then it hit me. The fort we were taking. I had gotten stabbed…..and I blacked out after that. I tried to look over to see who was dragging me, but the stab wound in my side prevented me. A tuft of orange hair made it across my field of vision, and in my dazed state, it took me a second to recognize the face.

"Minegishi! What….what the hell is going on?"

I tried to maintain a strong voice, but I failed terribly. God DAMN does that hurt.

"They're mounting a counter-attack! There's a huge force coming from the south! Misao seemed happy about it though…..eh, in any case, we're retreating into the fort, we'll hold them off from there."

I coughed, before realizing she was dragging me into a bunker on the outer edge of the fort. My leg jarred off of the ruined doorway, shocking me awake from the last dregs of my unfortunate nap. She pulled me up to a table and in a single motion, heaved me up and deposited me on the table. It was right next to a small window facing the south side of the forest.

Oh man, that is a LOT of Chinamen. Ayano handed me my rifle, which I just set down on the table, not being up to the task of firing it.

"I'll be right back, I have to coordinate the defense. Tsukasa will be coming in here soon; she's gonna set up shop right here."

Ayano scurried up a ladder in the corner, before running off to do whatever, so I was left to wallow in pain and self-pity.

I didn't really mind the pain by this time, it was a dull throb compared to what it had been whenever it actually happened. The feeling that we might all die and that I let my team down is what really got to me. That was the worst feeling ever, so I sat up with a grunt, ignoring my protesting side and slid off the table, wobbly standing up.

I heard gunfire right outside the bunker, and even heard it pinging off the heavy iron door at the end of the room. I grabbed my LMG off of the table, and lay down underneath the table. I lined up my sights with the only entrance to the room, as the walls were too high to be climbed, even in their damaged state, and therefore I did not need to worry about the roof.

The gunfire continued, a melodic orchestra of death.

Suddenly, a huge explosion shook the ground, knocking some loose stones out of the walls around me, while I waited.

The gunfire was dramatically reduced, but there was a new sound, close by, almost right above. It was a sharp crack, and only occurred every few seconds. In an instant, it was joined by more of the same sharp cracks, and the machine gun fire dropped to even lower levels. A few minutes later, and the gunfire ceased in its entirety, but not after one small concussion wave, though I couldn't figure out what it was.

Still no sign of Tsukasa though….I wonder where she is?

**A/N: It's more fun from more perspectives! May or may not be a recurring thing, lets see how it goes.**

_TH_

"Riflemen up here, line the wall! No Chinamen are going to make it past this point! Misao, you too! Get up here! Squads Two and Three, go farther down the wall, towards the tower! Kuroi, up here, next to me!"

Wiping the sweat out of my face, I was seated on the roof of a bunker defending the remains of the fort we took about an hour ago. My twin sister Kagami, yeah she got stabbed in the side by some guy we missed at first. I didn't miss him again. His face was a really nice target though…..

We thought it was all said and done, but about half an hour ago, our watchman, Konata, spotted a whole force of Chinamen coming through the forest as quietly as they could. As soon as she spotted them, I sent our Explosives Specialist, Misao, down the side of the hill to lay some traps. Of the explodey kind, anyways.

She put down all of the explosives she had in one huge pile, covered it in some foliage and dirt, and laid a wire all the way back up the hill so she could detonate it when needed.

After sis went down, I was scared, and everyone kind of looked to me for instruction, which was an entirely new experience for me. I was trying the best I could, and I think I was doing pretty well. No one had complained yet, anyways.

In the darkness, we could see them start to approach the hill. They seemed to melt out of the trees, and we would have been none the wiser if Kona-chan hadn't seen one of them put out a cigar in the forest. I had seen the embers through my scope, and followed the shapes through the forest from time to time.

Miyuki-chan was waiting in the back with Sebastian and Akira Kogami, laying out medical kits ad scavenging first aid stuff from the fort, readying for our skirmish.

Konata was still crouched in the guard tower on the south-east side, tracking them. We had set up a fire in the corner of the fort to provide light where the moonlight didn't shine. The stubby barrel of her rifle stuck out when the light of the fire played across it.

Now I heard my old History teacher, Ms. Kuroi, come up the ladder on the outside of the bunker, crawled beside me, and set her rifle next to mine. Hers was near identical to mine, besides the barrel length and the scope. My rifle had a longer barrel, so as to cause all of the propellant from the bullet to be used, and prevent muzzle flash. I was also issued a scope, because I was seen to be very accurate, making me the unofficial sniper of the group, until they could scrounge up a better weapon. I liked it just fine, but if it was insisted upon, I wouldn't argue.

I was seated nearest to the hole that the bombers had blown open on their run. On the opposite side of the hole, Hiyori, Minami, and Ayano were all laying down, spaced about a meter apart, as the wall had been partially damaged, and there was to good cover if they were sitting.

Misao was sitting on the ground inside the fort, her back against the wall, and the detonation wire in her hands. She looked up to me, gave her toothy smile, and I gave her a nod back. She stood up silently and leaned around the corner of the wall to look at the approaching enemy. She sat back down, but started to count on her fingers.

The enemy opened fire on us. We started firing right back.

Looking down the hill, I took aim at the first enemy, unable to see any features, just seeing the glint of his eyes, and pulling the trigger. The rifle jumped in my hands, and I pulled the bolt back, readying the next round. Through my scope, I watched a few more Chinamen go down, but spotted one that was spraying a machine gun all around. He needed to be taken out immediately.

I spoke too soon; as I tried to steady my rifle, Kuroi's rifle went off and he went down like a sack of dead Chinaman. The constant cracks of our rifles were thinning down the enemy, but not enough. I looked down at Misao, who had just finished counting.

She pulled the cord, a smile unlike anything I've ever seen reaching across her face.

The explosion itself was deafening, but the effects of it were simply astounding. Almost the whole force was caught up in the blast, and the mostly unarmored enemy was torn asunder like leaves in a forest fire. In the moonlight, their gunshots turned to screams of pain from those unlucky enough to have survived the explosion. A swift ratatatata sound started and surprised me a bit, but I realized it to be Konata's rifle, tearing through the remaining Chinamen. I put a couple rifle rounds in them as well, but Misao wasn't done yet.

Out of the corner of my eye from where I was sitting, I saw her throw something a short distance down the hill. A few seconds later, it exploded.

It had obviously been a hand grenade, and it ripped through the remaining enemy with its shrapnel, making a lasting sound like a reverberating gong.

An uneasy silence crept over us, unsure on what to do.

I slid over to the ladder and climbed down to the ground, going inside the bunker to check on my sister.

When I went in, I couldn't see her. It was almost pitch-black inside, but I heard her sigh of relief.

"Sis? Where are you?"

Her voice came out strained and weak, but from underneath a table, none the less.

I bent down to look at her, not really surprised to see her gun aimed at the door.

"Always prepared for the worst, huh, sis? Don't worry about it, we got rid of the rest of the enemy and we're starting to relax."

"Don't."

That single word caught me by surprise, making me look back to sis, who was still laying in the same place, her gun still on the open door.

"What did you say sis?"

"Don't. Relax. Just when you think it's over, something, anything, will happen, and that's how I got stabbed, and that's how good soldiers end up dead."

Her voice was hard and cold, like she had eaten an iceberg while she had been unconscious. I guess it's true, war changes people…..

_KH_

"Now will you help me up? I don't want to put pressure on my wound…."

Tsukasa obligingly helped me out from underneath the table and let me lean on her so I could stand. She grabbed my rifle out from underneath as well, and handed it back to me, but not before switching the safety on.

Always looking out for each other…..yeah. I need to work on that…

She helped me walk out of the bunker under my own power, and I was surprised to see that not only was nobody else injured, but everyone seemed to be pretty okay with the whole "kill a ton of people" thing.

I personally didn't have a problem with it myself, and I knew Tamura was a bit of a sick one herself, and Konata viewed it as a game, but to listen to Minami quietly recount to everyone about how she got one of them after they had been playing dead was just odd to listen to.

Everyone gave a little cheer when I walked out of the bunker who could see me, including Miyuki, who had apparently gone down the hill with those two from the radio show to check that all of the enemy was dead, and to take whatever useful things they could.

How Miyuki managed to shake my hand while carrying guns and ammo, I'll never know.

But I did have to ask…..

"Er, Miyuki-chan, what did you pour on that stab? It hurt a lot…."

I was following her back to where they were dumping these "supplies" but she just turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry Kagami-san, I didn't pour anything into your wound. I simply bound it up with a bandage and gave you a sedative to put you out for a bit….."

I pulled up my uniform. Yup, that's a bandage covered in blood. Wonderful.

I thanked her and headed off to check on everyone else. Izumi Wakase and Patricia Martin were up in the guard tower with Konata, though Konata ad fallen asleep, using her bag as a pillow. I respected Wakase's wishes and did not wake her up, but relayed the message that I wanted everyone down in the main (intact) building at 0700. I bid them goodnight before climbing back down.

I assigned three 2-hour watch groups to the members of Squad Three. The rest of Squads Three and Two that I did not know their names set up shop in what appeared to have been the barracks. With almost everyone asleep except the watch, Tamura, and myself, I went up to the roof of the bunker I had been in during the battle.

There I found Tsukasa, sleeping against the wall, her rifle a short distance away. I left her there, not wanting to wake her up, just gazing across the expanses of forest.

You know, when nobody is trying to kill you, this place looks really nice.

In the moonlight, I could see Tamura waving at me from the opposite wall, gesturing for me to join her.

I pinched my nose and climbed back down, really starting to feel the pain from the stab wound.

I climbed up to the opposite wall, thankful there was a staircase, before joining Tamura next to the bottom of the guard tower.

"Hiya Hiiragi, how's your side?"

She was wiping her glasses off on Ayano's shirt, as she was fast asleep. I struggled not to laugh, because for some reason I found that hilarious. A twig snapped off in the distance, reverberating until it reached our ears.

"The sedative Miyuki gave me is starting to wear off. Sleeping is gonna be a living hell, and she's already asleep….so….."

Hiyori nodded, and I could of sworn she was blushing.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to bother the goddess of moe, amirite?"

…."What did you say?"

She blanched, but not before recovering rather quickly.

"Eh never mind never mind! Just an inside joke, I though Kona-chan would have told you! Ehehehehe….yeah…"

O…kay. She's really blushing hard now. Wait. Does she….? No, of course not. She's weird, but not that weird, right?

I looked away, trying to find anything else to look at. I looked at Ayano, who had one eye open.

Oh god, she heard that whole thing, didn't she? Plan B, Plan B!

"So Tamura-san, why did you wipe your glasses on Minegishi' shirt?"

She shrugged, and I kept looking at Ayano, whose eyes got narrow.

"Oh you know, it had some blood and something, maybe someone's brains on them and I didn't want it to clog up my-"

WHACK

Somehow, Ayano was standing now, and Hiyori had a large red mark on her face, and I was laughing my ass off.

"YOU DID WHAT!"

Ayano looked about ready to kill Tamura, but I had fallen over, and the laughing was making my side hurt, maybe more than it did at first. Owies, but this is too good to miss! Must…retain….consciousness…

Shit. FOILED AGAIN.

**A/N: My my, Kagami really needs to learn to not rip open wounds. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and make sure to leave a review! **

**Bye-nii~**


	5. Dysfunctional is just a word

Just When

**A/N:****I could try to blame the lack of updates on one thing or another, but I was just fresh out of the magical substance that allows me to write. Oh, and ****I couldn't really figure out how to bridge this and the next major event, so I said "screw it", and now there's this ridiculous bridging chapter. Hope you enjoy it; we're starting to diverge from WWII a tad bit here, if only for the opportunity for epic win lulz.**

Chapter 5: Dysfunctional is just a word

I woke up in the early morning, disappointed that I had blacked out during what may have been one of the most humorous things I'd seen in a long time. When I came to, the sun was starting to rise and neither Tamura nor Minegishi were in sight; their packs were still on the wall though. I got up and stretched, but not too hard, not wanting to rip open the gash. It hurt like hell still, but nowhere near as bad as it had been a few hours ago. The fire in the corner was still going, and almost everyone was clustered around it. I gingerly walked down the stairs, wincing with every step, before finally making it to ground level. I saw Minegishi on the field radio looking out of the hole in the wall, and saluted her as I went by. Her face was red for some reason…..heh. NO, wait. Don't laugh! Laughs are bad for side! In this case, laughter is NOT the best medicine!

.

.

Shit.

"Huh?!" I bolted up right, smacking my head into Konata's, who jerked in surprise, nearly dropping me. For some reason, everything was vibrating, and there was a loud drone in the foreground of my hearing.

"Kagami, you nearly gave me a heart attack back there!" She was nearly shouting, but she was still quiet compared to the drone. Where the hell are we...we were at that citadel just a minute ago...

Fortunately, Konata answered my question for me.

"You passed out on the top of the hill there, we had to lug you all the way to the airfield! It's been almost 2 days, we came back to Japan to switch planes, and now we're on our way to Europe!" Europe? What the hell? If we were getting sent over there, that meant their situation was worse than ours...which wasn't exactly good to begin with. I do _not _like the sound of this.

"We had quite a time explaining to the officer at the base we switched rides at that our squad leader was out cold...Tsukasa managed to cajole the guy into letting you go with us." So we were on a plane...heading...to Europe...well, at least my side doesn't hurt any more...until I get up...probably.

"My gun?" Konata pointed below me, which I was guessing was actually just to her left, towards the front of the plane.

"We got your gun, and plenty of ammo for it, too." Another voice spoke up, softer, but just as recognizable as the blunettes'.

I sat up and got off of the smaller girl, moving gingerly, in order not to stretch my side, which didn't feel quite right, but wasn't bandaged.

The other voice had been none other than my sister, who was sitting in the middle of everyone else; Ms. Kuroi was somehow asleep at the end, despite the racket; probably sleeping off a hangover, if I had to guess; Minegishi and Kusakabe were silent, but looked well enough.

Where Konata had pointed was a set of lockers at the front of the cramped seating arrangements, which no doubt held all kinds of fun things. And by fun I mean explodey.

"...So where are we now?" My own voice sounded weak, and apparently only Konata heard me, as I was right next to her.

She leaned over to talk in my ear in a semi-normal voice.

"The last time we got a bearing on our location, we were flying across Greece...we'll be landing in about 2 hours." Well, that's not too bad...

"And where exactly are we landing?" She waved her hand like it wasn't important, but answered anyways.

"Some place in France near the beach..." I thought about it...France was currently under Germany's control, and there probably wasn't much to do in France...except keep insurgents dead. Or something. Maybe this was going to be an easy assignment? No, of course not. There was going to be a catch; a Catch 22, if you will.

Maybe I should write a book about something like that...

Konata nudged my good side and handed me a paper covered in a mixture of German writing and normal kanji.

'Operation was completed successfully, minimal casualties. One squad's leader was injured, carried to exfil by another soldier. All units involved in taking the Hunan province are to be rerouted to France to assist German forces. Allied forces are believed to be attacking to the south in the next several days; units will shore up defenses farther north at Normandy.'

It turns out that the only things written in script were proper nouns.

"So this is just a summary of what we're doing? Guard duty, basically...?" Again, my voice was just so weak that Konata was the only one able to hear it. My sister and Miyuki shook their heads and cupped their ears; they couldn't hear me, but at least they knew I was talking.

The blunette smiled in her special, devious way, and withdrew her automatic rifle, cleaning off non-existent dirt with a cloth she withdrew from her breast pocket.

"Who knows Kagami, maybe those dumb Americans will miss their target and try to attack us instead. We'll be supplementing an entire division of German troops, so we'll be part of any defensive maneuver if the Allies even set foot in France."

She wanted this to happen. She's still living in the world where this is just a game. I wish I were that lucky.

"45 minutes until we boot you out! Be ready!" The pilot came over the radio, and I was curious about his wording. 'Boot'. Oh no. Please, no. I _hate _heights...when I'm not safely inside a plane or in a building.

"Hey, here's your parachute! Here, I'll help you put it on, if you do it yourself you might reopen that wound." Miyuki had gotten up and carefully made her way across the cramped compartment to me, holding onto whatever she could to stay upright.

I stood up, grabbing an overhead rung to stabilize myself, wincing slightly at the strain of raising my hand. I switched hands quickly, and the strain went away. Miyuki guided the heavy pack onto my back on my bad side, before holding my shoulder as I let go of the rung to fit the other strap over my shoulders.

She pulled it tight, and it hurt my side, but I wasn't about to have this thing slide off while we were plummeting to the ground after avoiding getting sliced to death by propellers.

I hate planes, if you can't tell already. Or at least, being outside of them while they're spinning like death machines. I've seen what a turboprop can do to a person...it's not pretty. They were cleaning up that guy for _days_. Not only did he never make it out of basic training, but his cause of death was listed as "propeller-induced lacerations". Yeah, several hundred of them, of which one would bisect a grown man with ease.

I thanked Miyuki, who sat back down, and I made my way to the lockers Konata had indicated previously...You know what, I think I'm going deaf from this drone. I knocked a knuckle against my helmet, making sure I heard the metallic clang. Nope, still hearing fine.

Inside, I retrieved my gun from the hook it was on. It felt heavier than usual, and it wasn't exactly light to begin with. Jeez, being stabbed sure does take a lot out of you. Thankfully there was a strap and bandoliers of ammunition, a step up from the heavy boxes that carried the same amount, if not less.

Loaded up, I trudged back to my seat with small steps, still making very sure I didn't rip anything important.

Just as I sat down, the radio flickered to life again.

"Doors open in 15 seconds! Hope all of you make it back home in one piece! Thank you for flying with Rising Sun Airlines!" The pilot laughed, and the radio cut.

Or maybe it didn't because everyone was readied and waiting when the bay doors opened, and most of us jumped at once.

I more or less fell out, screaming as the air whipped by my face, and the only reason I wasn't blinded by my hair was the helmet that had been such a hassle only a minute ago.

Something hit me, and I damn near stopped my heart right there, but it was _only _Konata. She was hugging me around the waist, just barely, because my gun was on my back, and her arms are proportionate to her body, unlike Kuroi's...um, anyways.

Once you got over the fact that your parachute might not release, it was actually quite beautiful. The landscape, I mean. It was all farmland, with the ocean a short ways away to our left.

"Pull your 'chute!" Without hesitation, I grabbed the handle and pulled it, and felt myself lift up as the material unfurled in a second and slowed our descent. We were still _very _high up, at least a couple hundred meters, and she was still clinging to me.

Now she's not. She dropped, facing up, gave me a thumbs-up, before doing a neat backflip and opening her parachute.

Damn, that was pretty cool, I must admit. She may think this is just a game, but at least she's being awesome while doing it...like she is with everything, really.

I mean...yeah.

We somehow managed to all land in the same pasture, and as I looked up, I saw that we were far from the only Mitsubishi plane flying overhead. It seems that with not airfields nearby, and the German's need for more troops was creating a massive airdrop of manpower into the French farmlands.

How odd.

After escaping from the tight hold of the parachute, and freeing my rifle from underneath the pack, I rejoined the rest of our squad, plus Kuroi, who had landed in the only tree for a kilometer in any direction and was now struggling to get out, while the others openly laughed at her.

Hey! She's only a drunk _after _she gets the job done!...or before, if our history lessons were any indication...yeah, I'm going to stop thinking about that now, I'm horrible at showcasing her in a good light, if there ever was one to showcase her in in the first place.

Thankfully, a large vehicle with both tracks and wheels on it pulled up before I could make it sound even worse in my head.

A tall man in German uniform stepped out of the back, wearing a cap over his bald head. He spoke in Japanese, but with a very thick accent...he knows we know German, right? It's been taught in schools since 1939...anyways.

"Welcome to Germany my friends. I am Sturmfuhrer Kortig, the head of the defensive line here in Normandy. Which one of you is Lieutenant Hiiragi?"

I raised my hand in a salute, and replied in German. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than his Japanese, that's for sure.

"That would be me, sir. Leader of the 1st Volunteer Rifleman Squad, callsign Lucky Stars."

He nodded, gesturing back to the vehicle, as more showed up to collect the ever increasing numbers of troops, quite literally, falling from the sky.

"Why don't we continue or introductions on our way to the barracks." The doors at the rear of the vehicle opened, revealing benches along the walls.

I climbed up with the assistance of Konata, and soon, we were joined by my sister, Miyuki, Kuroi-sensei, Ayano, Misao, Minami, and a few of the snipers from Kuroi's squad.

The cab could be seen through a mesh, and as the vehicle lurched as we began moving, the German begin speaking again.

"Tell me, how good are you at killing Americans?"

**A/N: Well, that's a nice point to leave off at. We all know what's next.**

I'd apologize for not updating in forever, but it was just an oddly specific writer's block for WWII-related storytelling.

**Or something.**

**I might write more, quickly, and I might not. I'm also grinding away at the next Stars on the Floor chapter, so I'm not dead, just...floundering, I guess? Oh, and Happy New Year's, too.**


End file.
